


Upon a December

by meggannn



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-27
Updated: 2011-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-06 04:45:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/414831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meggannn/pseuds/meggannn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Atem had only seen snow in his dreams.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Upon a December

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lucidscreamer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucidscreamer/gifts).



> This was written for Lucidscreamer's birthday, inspired by her AU puzzleshipping fic "1001 Domino Nights," in which Atem is a genie. Late, but I hope she's enjoyed it anyway! haha.

Atem awoke shivering. After a moment he realized that the window had blown open sometime during the night. The wind was howling against the side of the house, ruffling the curtains and sheets on the bed.  
  
He pushed aside the covers, getting up to close it – and quickly changed his mind as soon as his bare feet touched the floor, shivering as the cold air hit his legs. He ducked back under the covers again, wrapping himself tightly inside them in the hopes their warmth might spread to his cold toes and fingers faster.  
  
“No, don’t move,” Yugi’s voice mumbled from somewhere on his right. “It’s snowing.”  
  
Atem blinked. “Snow?”  
  
“Yeah. The weather channel said there was going to be a lot, so my guess is that the roads will be closed down for a few hours while they send the trucks out to clear them up…”  
  
Snow. Atem hadn’t seen any in… how long was it? A war general had once solved his puzzle in the Nanling Mountains during a bitter Chinese winter. There had been a foot of snow on the ground and flurries were twirling in the air. Combined with the fierce winds blowing at such a high altitude, the snow had left him in an even grumpier mood than usual. Atem hadn’t even bothered to try for civility or patience while granting the man’s wishes, and completely gave up all attempts to store any sensations. When he was sent back into the puzzle’s nexus, he had welcomed the neutrality, the complete absence of feeling.  
  
But _snow_. It had looked so wonderful in his visions…  
  
Atem got up once again. This time, he braced the cold wind long enough to walk over to the window and shut it firmly. As he did so, he pushed aside the curtains, looking past the glass, and his breath caught in his throat.  
  
It _was_ wonderful. There was a soft, white blanket coating the world: the trees, the ground, the neighbor’s shed past the fence out back – the neighborhood had been transformed, and he was seeing it with his own eyes this time. Could walk outside and touch it, if he wanted.  
  
“Atem?”  
  
“It’s just – ” His mouth was suddenly very dry. “I haven’t really ever seen snow like this.”  
  
He could hear Yugi moving on the bed behind him. “Oh,” he said. “Right, I forgot… Is this the first time you’ve seen it?”  
  
“I’ve seen it once before a few centuries ago. It was during a horrible storm in the Chinese mountains.” Not at all like this. Atem knew it was freezing outside and the wind would blow the stinging cold into his face if he opened the window just a tiny bit, but here inside the house, it was comforting, somehow peaceful.  
  
“You can go outside and see it for yourself, if you want,” Yugi told him, shuffling under the covers. “It’s probably freezing outside, but if you – owww…”  
  
Atem turned immediately. “Yugi? Are you all right?”  
  
“I’m fine.” Yugi was lying on the bed, gloriously naked save for one thin cotton sheet that was covering part of his left leg. His right hand was pressed up against it. “It’s just – the cold weather makes the bones stiff.”  
  
Atem returned from the window and climbed back into the bed, pulling the covers back up around the two of them to stay warm, gently keeping mind of Yugi’s leg. “Should I turn up the heat?”  
  
Yugi snorted. “That’s all right. I don’t think the heating system has recovered from your last attempts at ‘fixing’ it.”  
  
Atem frowned, his ego bruised. “I didn’t do so badly.”  
  
“It was spitting fire.”  
  
“It just overheated a bit.”  
  
“Still.” Yugi shifted a bit, stretching. Atem watched the muscles in his chest and arms shift with careful eyes. “We’ve got more blankets underneath the bed in case it gets too cold. But I don’t think we should have a problem with that any time soon.”  
  
“No?”  
  
“No. In fact, I can think of a couple ways to warm up right now, if you like,” Yugi said. His eyes were soft with sleep, looking up at Atem, smiling. As he reached his hand up to run his fingers through Atem’s thick hair, he opened his lips in invitation, and Atem leaned down to meet him halfway.


End file.
